Notable Nature

 Bristlecone Pine Trees - White Mtns, California - Oldest living trees in the world at 4500+ years old (Not counting genetically self-replicating shrubs)

At nearly 11,000 feet, the number of trees drops off dramatically

Methuselah. The largest Bristlecone Pine, though not necessarily the oldest.

That's why they call em' Bristle-Cones!

Could the oldest one be in this valley or did I walk by it?

 

Meteor Crater Near Winslow, Arizona
This is a baby in the scheme of impact craters but the fact that one can see it all in one panoramic view is notable.
Others are so large that they may not even look like a single object could have made the impression.

 

Iguassu Falls – arguably the most dramatic waterfalls in the world
Learn more at the World Waterfalls Database

My friend and I took a small boat similar to the one you see at the bottom

The view goes on and on......

Looking in the other direction....

Near the end of the picture on the left

 

Breathing rocks / Stromatolites in NW Australia - Oldest living organisms on earth

 

How interesting is it to look at rocks? Well scientifically yes. Visually, maybe not. So here is a pretty gorge we toured on the way up.

Another view of the gorge.

 

Annapurna Trail, Nepal - Hiked amongst the tallest mountains in the world

My guide and porter ahead of me. Not an uncommon sight!

 

 

 

Perito Moreno Glaciar (El Calafate, Argentina) – one of the few advancing glaciers in the world

The road from the small town of El Calafate to the glacier

Hiking toward it to get a better look

Magnificent. I didn't take the boat ride. The walking trail was enough.

Where land and glacier meet. Looks deceptively small in this photograph.

 

White Sands National Park - Alamogordo, New Mexico

The workhorse of my cross country drive posing
against the white gypsum sand


 

 

 

Palau - Kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving
One of the dives is rated as the #1 / #2 dive site on Scubatravel…Blue Corner in Palau –  dived numerous other world class sites too - Peleliu!


 


 



 Brilliant snorkeling. Mostly hard coral in Micronesia. For soft coral,
one must go further West to the Philippines, and or to Fiji.
 



Palau - Koror - Fish n Fins - ready to go kayaking, a break from diving.